'Toxic' plastic could remain in use

As speculation mounts that the federal government will declare that
common plastic food and drink containers are officially toxic, an odd
twist is also emerging: Being declared toxic would not force the
products off supermarket shelves.

OTTAWA -- As speculation mounts that the federal government will declare that common plastic food and drink containers are officially toxic, an odd twist is also emerging: Being declared toxic would not force the products off supermarket shelves.

The chemical bisphenol-A, used to manufacture a common form of plastic, would fall under the Canadian Environment Protection Act. And this doesn’t force governments to ban or restrict its use in consumer products.

Even if it’s listed as “toxic” under the CEPA law, bisphenol-A could remain legal to use in baby bottles, liners of food and drink cans, and water bottles.

The government would have the option to restrict bisphenol’s use, or not.

Yesterday rumours swirled that Health Minister Tony Clement is about to announce the result of a review of BPA begun last year. Health Canada would not say what the minister will announce, or when.

The chemical commonly called BPA is used to make polycarbonate, a shatter-proof plastic used in CDs, some toys, resin that lines most metal food and soft drink cans, see-through water bottles for athletes and hikers, and some baby bottles. But it was invented in the 1940s as a synthetic copy of the sex hormone estrogen.

Scientists have been split about health effects; the chemical industry’s studies conclude the chemical is harmless, while its opponents say it is dangerous especially for fetuses and young infants, especially when heated. The two sides base their opposing views on different lab methods involving tests on rats.

“We’ve been waiting for them to come out with their assessment,” said Kathleen Cooper of the Canadian Enviromental Law Association.

“My sense of it is they’ve probably sped up their assessment of this particular one (out of a group of chemicals being evaluated) because of the high degree of interest. There’s been lots and lots of media attention.” As well, the Ontario government has launched a BPA review of its own.

But past chemicals found to be toxic under this law are still widely used, she noted. “The thing about calling something ‘CEPA-toxic’ is that it doesn’t get you very far until they actually follow up with activity,” she said. “And it’s been a chronic problem. Lead has been ‘CEPA-toxic’ since 1988, but that hasn’t stopped the flow of lead into thousands of consumer products ever since.

“The link between whether a chemical is considered toxic and whether we’re still finding it in all these consumer products — that’s the weak link.”

The flexibility in the CEPA law has one benefit in that governments can adapt regulations to suit how an individual toxic chemical works, she said. But the flaw is that being declared toxic doesn’t mean the chemical will go away.

Still, some opponents of BPA said Canada would have an international effect by declaring BPA harmful in any way.

“This would send a strong signal” that would discourage food packers, drink makers and retailers from using polycarbonate containers, said Aarom Freeman, policy director of Environmental Dafence.

“I think it matters quite a bit” if Canada says anything to suggest BPA is dangerous, said Scott Belcher of the University of Cincinnati’s faculty of medicine. Such a declaration, he said, would be contrary to the pro-BPA findings from toxicology reviews by the European Union and the United States.

“It essentially acts like estrogen,” he said. Effects “can range from increases in some kinds of cancers to changes in development” during pregnancy and infancy. “More and more studies are showing that the fetus, like all of us, is exposed to this chemical. We don’t what the long-term effects will be, but the animal studies point to some harmful effects.”

A new draft review of BPA by the U.S. National Toxicology Program has found “limited evidence” for human harm from the chemical this month. Both sides have claimed this supports their position.

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